


in this space (with you)

by fxbricxtedrexlity



Category: Mamamoo, Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Meet-Cute, artist!wheein, businessmajor!irene, in a library
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27379360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fxbricxtedrexlity/pseuds/fxbricxtedrexlity
Summary: ::The shutter goes off.“What emotion are you getting now?”Wheein looks at her; one brow slightly higher than the other, focused eyes, head a bit tilted on one side. “Curious. You’re curious.” She reaches forward, turns up the brightness of the other woman’s laptop. “Now you look focused. Turn it down, please.” The lighting changes again, a little bit softer than what it previously was but now the other woman seems to get what she’s hinting at. “Softer. Satisfied. You got your answer, didn’t you?”Poster Girl laughs. Airy, throwing her head back slightly, hand automatically coming up near her mouth like a bad habit; like the happiness caught her off-guard and she’s conscious of how the laughter is reflected on her face.Another picture.::wheerene. perfectionist art major wheein struggles with putting people on canvas or paper. irene happens to share her library table. wheein has no problem sketching her.::
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Jung Wheein
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	in this space (with you)

**Author's Note:**

>   
> a tad bit of warning before you proceed :)  
> relationship between red velvet's irene and mamamoo's wheein  
> i respect each and every one of the characters and real people i used in this fic
> 
> I guess that’s all, please enjoy :)  
> 

_in this space (with you)_

**::**

this story is for **stellairemxm**

**::**

_all these pretty girls_

_in the world_

_but i’m in this_

_space with you_

_honey; kehlani_

**::**

_wheerene. perfectionist art major wheein struggles with putting people on canvas or paper. irene happens to share her library table. wheein has no problem sketching her._

**::**

“It was _not_ a meet-cute.”

Hyejin scoffs, pointing an offending french fry near Wheein’s nose. “Except it totally is.”

Just as Wheein’s about to whine for what seems like the hundredth time tonight, a hand rests against her thigh, squeezing lightly. She turns her head just enough to see an amused smile, the hand moving on to drawing patterns on the denim.

Wheein melts against the sticky vinyl seat, a blush overpowering her pout when a kiss is pressed against her cheek.

“It was _not_ a meet-cute,” she whispers this time, the woman beside her just shaking her head.

“Sure, whatever you say.”

**::**

Here’s how the _not_ meet-cute story starts:

Her professor’s late.

It’s like a golden rule that if a professor’s late by at least half an hour, students are _technically_ allowed to skip that class. And to make matters worse, this is their last class for the week.

But Wheein, in her two years in university, never cashed in that rule. Because what if he shows up? Then instead of hearing the project details in person, Wheein will have to wait for the class email, and what if she has questions? She’ll have to wait for the professor to wade through his numerous emails before reaching hers and— _yeah_.

She’d rather not spend a day or two marinating in anxiety.

He arrives just before the first hour of their six-hour period ends.

Quick footsteps echo down the hallway and Mr. Choi bursts in. For someone who has a master’s degree in fine arts, he sure doesn’t know the concept of complementary colors for his outfit, half of the class avoiding his general direction until the bright neon green of his shirt becomes a little bit more tolerable.

Wheein tears up a little.

She minimizes the file transfer window on her laptop, making a mental note to pick up a new storage disk as she eyes the thin line of the disk space as it jumps from blue to red, giving the room a quick scan as she reaches out for her sketchbook.

The professor’s a flurry of apologies and a dumped messenger bag on someone’s desk as he writes down hurriedly on the board.

_Hyperrealism_.

She routinely checks their course outline—something Hyejin likes to give her shit for—but Wheein likes to be ready.

“—the difference is in what you want the viewers to see.”

Wheein’s got a tongue stuck out, filling in the shades of the _Photorealism VS Hyperrealism_ on top of a blank page, scrawling in messy bullet points of their main differences like how hyperrealism is just photorealism’s Gen Z baby—obsessive in small details, obscured big picture, and political passive-aggressiveness.

Her professor’s words, not hers.

He croons on about the importance of emotions, lights, and shadows, the scent of deeply-rooted acrylic in their classroom tickling at Wheein’s nose. She holds in her sneeze, jotting down more of her professor’s points as he paces in front of the class.

She likes the guy, he’s one of the best, but everyone in their class knows that he’s half-assing the instructions because it’s a long weekend and he’s got a getaway planned for him and his wife at some fancy resort. Yes, they know. He likes to blabber to fill during their long periods.

She loses focus for a bit, eyes trained at the back of a classmate’s head as she creates a vision of what she can do with his ambiguous instructions.

_Light and shadow… so maybe something with either sunrise or sunset? Sunsets are hard to catch these days so a morning shoot will be the best bet. As for the subject…_

Cold dread drips down Wheein’s back, straightening her spine in hopes the phantom feeling doesn’t settle at the pit of her stomach.

It does anyway, Wheein already biting lightly at her lip as the possibility that her mind’s already forming an idea for a _portrait_.

“Fuck,” she panics, words directed at the page halfway-filled with notes. “It’s cool, you haven’t even started yet, Jung. You can still change it.”

She _hates_ portraits.

Wheein knows she’s a good artist but _fucking_ portraits always bring out the worst of her insecurities.

And yet— 

She can see it in her mind’s eye. Hyperrealism.

Wheein taps her pencil aggressively against the back of her hand, already hating her mind but also relieved that _well, at least I have an idea, now._

Someone in her class asks a question and Wheein jolts back into the present.

“Go crazy,” he says as he twirls a paintbrush in between his thumb and forefinger, singing _lights and shadows_ as he surveys the room, then dismisses the class early for the weekend. “Next meeting is the deadline.”

That gives her five days.

And so it begins.

**::**

There’s this thing with Wheein that if there’s something specific she wants to do, she will think that every other idea isn’t good enough.

**_Better Half [7:02 PM]_ **

_hey_

**_Allergic Half [7:04 PM]_ **

_ye_

**_Better Half [7:05 PM]_ **

_model needed_

**_Allergic Half [7:07 PM]_ **

_group thing or nah?_

Wheein flushes, remembers the last time she asked Hyejin to model for their anatomy study, and accidentally forgot to mention that it was a group study; Hyejin suffered and got hit on by at least five people before the class was done.

Wheein had to buy Hyejin dinner a week straight after that along with a pinky promise to _never_ utter her name in the art department again.

**_Better Half [7:07 PM]_ **

_just me this time, swear_

**_Allergic Half [7:09 PM]_ **

_better be, jung._

_when?_

**_Better Half [7:09 PM]_ **

_tomorrow?_

**_Allergic Half [7:10 PM]_ **

_got exams for the next two days_

Hyejin always models for her for both familiarity and efficiency when she feels like she needs to paint a person. Hyejin’s safe, familiar, and she’s spent countless hours of their childhood drawing the other woman only because Hyejin always annoys her until she gives in.

Wheein stops walking, kicks a random pebble as she does the math. Three days should be enough for her to finish.

**_Better Half [7:13 PM]_ **

_kk_

_after, then_

**::**

Nothing’s going according to plan.

  1. _Wheein slept in._



She woke up disoriented and with a sinking feeling in her stomach when the morning light was already streaming in her loft apartment. The clock says it’s a few minutes past nine, missing her proposed early morning shoot for that early sunrise lighting.

But looking outside—

  1. _The weather’s overcast._



Thick clouds stretching for miles with the promise of a heavy downpour for the next few days. Wheein curses under her breath, shrugging on a thick hoodie. Even if she did wake up on time, there’s no way that clouds these thick weren’t there three hours earlier.

Thankfully, she left her phone plugged in, the notifications for the missed alarms go ignored as she refreshes her phone screen and—

  1. _She’s been dumped._



Maybe.

Wheein’s still not sure about that one.

She’s standing outside of Hyejin’s dorm—under her best friend’s fifth-story window, to be exact—pouting and hopes that if she mopes, their weird best friend telepathy will work and Hyejin’s ridiculous bedhead will pop out the window.

They used it during a particularly intense game of Mafia last week, so Wheein’s confident it’ll work.

Thunder rolls, Wheein anxiously biting her lip as she pulls up their conversation and seriously debating whether to pick up the rock that’s been digging on the bottom of her right shoe into her best friend’s window.

She looks down at her phone.

**_Allergic Half [3:26 AM]_ **

_just a heads up_

_but we’re a season deep_

_with the new show kei’s been wanting to watch_

_i’m setting alarms tho_

_multiple ones !!_

**_[Allergic Half sent a photo]_ **

_proof :D_

_but also sorry_

_just in case i dont wake up on time_

**_Better Half [9:08 AM]_ **

_okay fuck jwu_

**_Better Half [9:34 AM]_ **

_still asleep?_

_otw to ur dorm_

_pls be awake_

**_Better Half [9:55 AM]_ **

_fuck_

Wheein can’t blame her best friend, though, knowing that Hyejin has an intense crush on her roommate and hilarious inability to say no to Kei. Wheein can understand.

She’ll understand when she’s not on the verge of a panic attack because _holy shit_ , she’s only got three days left and with the current weather, it’ll take at least two days for her new piece to dry.

And just when she thinks it won’t get any worse—

  1. _It starts raining._



Wheein runs.

**::**

Her hoodie took most of the hit, making her scrunch her nose when the wet fabric sticks to the back of her neck. The library’s the closest building to Hyejin’s dorm, Wheein deciding that she can just brainstorm in a new environment.

With that in mind, she starts marching towards the elevator and to the Korean History section on the fourth floor. Normally, no one stays there, the scent of old books that haven’t been opened in at least five years enough of a deterrent for most students, but with the finals coming up, Wheein finds a few tables jammed with different study groups and the enviable scent of coffee wafting from different tumblers.

She picks a table at the far back, a large window shining its gloomy morning light and a perfect view for the pelting rain.

Wheein goes through the motion of peeling her hoodie from her skin, hanging it on the back of the chair beside her where her backpack sits. She takes out her laptop first, then routinely checks her camera just in case something happened in the short while from her apartment to Hyejin’s dorm to the library.

Breathing in once, twice, Wheein settles in her seat.

And lets the anxiety roll through her body like waves to the shore.

**::**

She’s scrolling Pinterest boards and Tumblr dashboards on one side of her screen and flicking through different shoots on the other. Most of the shoots she has of people are in a studio, modified lighting to get the best out of the models. Wheein doesn’t want those.

She needs something _real_.

Her phone’s been quiet for the past hour since she sat down but the hushed conversation in the library is steadily increasing by the minute; mind in a weird limbo of _wishing the next pair of students doesn’t sit down on her mostly empty table that can seat six people easily_ and _offended that no one’s sparing her table a second glance._

“You’re being weird,” Wheein mumbles to herself, hunches more in her seat, turning her laptop screen away from the aisle in case someone’s been watching her squint at Hyejin’s begrudgingly similar photos.

Maybe it’s time for a break.

Joints popping at a stretch, she minimizes everything, then pulls up another browser, typing in _pen twirling tutorial_.

It’s completely random yet it wormed its way at the forefront of Wheein’s brain a few minutes ago as she stares at another picture of a model shoot earlier in the semester. A boy was holding a pen and it wasn’t quite captured in her camera settings at that time, too fast and hovering mid-air like magic.

She spreads her still-damp hoodie under the span of her elbow to her hand after the third loud fall of her pencil on the hardwood table, not wanting to draw annoyed looks.

It is _not_ a meet-cute.

And yet—

Wheein feels hot blush rising on her cheeks as the pen twirls too hard on the back of her thumb, momentarily distracted by the approaching figure to properly calculate how much force should be on the twirl. It falls noisily on the tiled floor.

The woman smiles, a pretty indent on her bottom lip apparent as she holds in her laughter.

There’s also a voice in her head that’s teasing her that the woman’s _exactly_ her type. The voice sounds suspiciously a lot like Hyejin’s. Personally, Wheein never saw the similarities from those she dates so she doesn’t even know _what_ her type is.

She brushes it off.

“Is this seat taken?”

Wheein feels herself blushing harder; if that’s possible.

The woman’s not even remotely close to the table, just has a hand outstretched in the general direction of the seat on the other side of the table, the farthest opposite from Wheein.

“Uh, no, totally free.” Wheein cringes at herself, moving her eyes away as the woman gives her a small _thanks_ before setting up her stuff.

She looks a little bit older than Wheein, probably a senior, not a single hair coming off of her high and tight ponytail and looking so painfully beautiful that Wheein feels her hands shake at wanting to reach for her camera to take a picture.

Wheein sneaks another glance because apparently, she has no self-control.

The woman fits exactly in the college scene—a thin laptop with a snarky sticker saying _managing businesses is my business_ , pastel highlighters arranged in the rainbow order, a light pink tumbler, and a leather dotted notebook she probably bought from a fundraising event.

She looks like a poster girl that parents show their kids and go _that’s what you’ll look like if you start figuring your shit out as early as elementary._

Her phone vibrates loudly against the table, shooting an apologetic smile (she’s pretty sure it came off more like a grimace) to the startled woman on the other side, pulling her phone on top of her laid hoodie.

**_Allergic Half [11:08 AM]_ **

_shit jwu_

_but pls b4 u get mad_

**_[Allergic Half sent a photo]_ **

Brow furrowing, Wheein cocks her head to the side as she tries to process what her best friend sent her until— 

Those are legs.

_Two_ sets of legs.

In Hyejin’s unmistakable lion-printed bed sheets.

**_Better Half [11:09 AM]_ **

_i can’t believe you netflix and chilled_

**_Allergic Half [11:09 AM]_ **

_i’ll make it up to u swear_

_maybe u should ask someone in the lib to pose for u_

_i might be a bit...busy until the foreseeable future_

**_Better Half [11:10 AM]_ **

_actually…_

Wheein bites her lip, glancing up just in time to see Poster Girl duck her head back to her journal.

**_Allergic Half [11:11 AM]_ **

_of course_

_you’d find a pretty girl in the library_

_so cliche jung_

**_Better Half [11:11 AM]_ **

_you don’t understand_

_she’s like_

_SUPER pretty  
  
  
_

**_Allergic Half [11:13 AM]_ **

_tell me all about her later_

_kei’s waking up_

_remember: no nude posing on the first date_

_keep it classy_

**_Better Half [11:14 AM]_ **

_please wash ur sheets after_

_that was my mom’s gift for u_

She rolls her eyes when Hyejin left her on seen but feeling happy for her best friend nonetheless.

The chair creaks a little as she leans back, blowing out a breath and _oh_ , Poster Girl moved on from writing in her journal, the leather pushed aside as she types with quiet fury on her laptop. There’s a crinkle on her forehead that is positively adorable.

Wheein kind of wants to sketch it, see if she can translate the same softness on paper.

“Okay, focus now,” she pulls her sketchbook in front of her, flipping the pages until it settles back to her notes from last week’s class.

_Maybe you should ask someone to pose for you._

Wheein hates that Hyejin’s right. It would be easier to do just that instead of waiting for Hyejin to finish loving it up to her more-than-a-roommate.

She flips to a new page, thinks about what kind of pose she’d want… maybe something loose and in-the-moment. Maybe a side profile?

Her pencil curves a crescent near the shape of the moon, the edges finishing softly until it’s a bridge of a nose, dipping down to capture lips that are just shy of a pout. It takes her a few more strokes before she stops, mortified as she looks up and _yeah_ , she’s drawing Poster Girl.

Wheein marvels at the easy way her wrist controls her hand, a smile warming her face because holy shit, maybe she’s not bad at portraits after all. Maybe she just needed this— needed _her_.

It’s easy to just look up after wondering _how will a shadow under this part look_ and the answer is there, in the farthest seat at the same table.

The sketch ends up decent, maybe even _good_. But at the end of the day, this won’t be submitted as Wheein’s finals. There needs to be a lot of contemplation to be done, logistics to work out like _she doesn’t even know me_.

Maybe their weird best friend telepathy _finally_ works because Wheein feels an unexplainable rush of confidence that she sometimes borrows from Hyejin throughout their friendship.

First is her laptop, then she chucks on her hoodie that’s still cold but otherwise drier than it had been an hour ago. The pencil gets placed on top of her ear, familiar, and then she rips the sketch, signing at the bottom.

She doesn’t trust that her voice won’t crack, so.

_If it’s alright with you, can I trade this sketch with a few pictures?_

Her feet are already moving before she can think twice, camera digging against her hip, one finger ready on the shutter in case it goes _well_.

Poster Girl stops typing two words after Wheein stops in front of her, the table in between them. If Wheein’s being creepy by just sliding the piece of paper against the hardwood and not saying a word, the woman doesn’t show it, mouth just forming a cute little _o_ as a delicate finger traces her profile, careful as if she doesn’t want to smudge the drawing.

“It’s smudge-proof,” her voice is embarrassingly hoarse, Wheein clearing her throat once, feeling her cheeks flaming.

Poster Girl looks at her once, a look of awe on her face, before going back to the drawing.

“Sure,” she agrees easily, also tracing Wheein’s handwriting like it’s part of the actual sketch.

“Sure?”

“I need to know what for, obviously, but sure.”

Wheein feels her brain short-circuits. She’s never thought this far ahead.

She shrugs off her bag again, leaving it on the floor this time, fiddling with her camera just to have an excuse to not stare at Poster Girl still tracing her perfectly manicured nail against Wheein’s handwriting.

“I need it for my finals, hyperrealism. I have this weird thing where I always bite more than I can chew, you know? I’m not good at drawing people but my mind wants to do a portrait for this project.”

Eyes wide, Poster Girl pulls the sketch closer to her body akin to a mother covering a child’s ears to prevent them from hearing something they shouldn’t. Wheein wonders if there’s anything this woman does that won’t be adorable for her.

Then she realizes how negative that statement sounds, backpedaling immediately.

“Not that I’ll do you wrong— _your portrait_ wrong, not _you_ , god, uh,” Wheein wonders if this is still a good idea. Breathe in, breathe out. Better. “What I meant is I’ll do my best.”

Poster Girl just takes it in stride, smiling sympathetically like she’s feeling the secondhand embarrassment.

“I get what you mean, don’t worry.” she gestures to the sketch. Ponytail swishing as she smooths out the front of her hoodie. “How do you want me?”

_Under me._

Poster Girl doesn’t say anything when Wheein practically falls over from how fast blood rushed to her face, leaving her lightheaded and dizzy.

“Just,” she gestures vaguely towards everything on the table. “, continue what you were doing earlier. The painting’s about real life anyway.”

Wheein finally smiles easily when the other woman perks up before tamping it down, trying to get back to what she was doing earlier, fingers typing away at her laptop, slower this time, acutely aware of the presence of the lens.

“It’s going to be a painting?” Wheein hums in assent, murmuring little adjustments like _can you tilt your head a little bit towards the window?_ and _no, don’t move your hair, it’s perfect._ “Real life, right? Why a portrait?”

She pauses, taking her eyes off of the viewfinder, looking at the steady downpour of the rain outside as she thinks of a proper answer other than _cause my mind’s made up and won’t settle for anything less than perfect_ _and you look like the definition of perfect._

“My professor said something about emotions and lightings and shadows and how it’s pretty much an open interpretation for anyone. Like, for you, it can look like you’re painting a happy person but under different lights, their smiles can look forced, you know?”

Wheein moves directly in front of Poster Girl, breath catching when she’s looking right at the lens.

The shutter goes off.

“What emotion are you getting now?”

Wheein looks at her; one brow slightly higher than the other, focused eyes, head a bit tilted on one side. “Curious. You’re curious.” She reaches forward, turns up the brightness of the other woman’s laptop. “Now you look focused. Turn it down, please.” The lighting changes again, a little bit softer than what it previously was but now the other woman seems to get what she’s hinting at. “Softer. Satisfied. You got your answer, didn’t you?”

Poster Girl laughs. Airy, throwing her head back slightly, hand automatically coming up near her mouth like a bad habit; like the happiness caught her off-guard and she’s conscious of how the laughter is reflected on her face.

Another picture.

“You’re good,” is all she says, shoulders finally slouching, submitting to Wheein’s gravity. Relaxed.

Wheein raises an eyebrow. “All I did is answer your questions.”

She follows the line of a shoulder as it lifts in a one-sided shrug. “You’re passionate. You know what you’re doing. Mix both of those and I know you’re good.” Then, her smile turns coy. Wheein takes another picture. “That and you gave me a, what, ten-minute sketch of myself? Which is also good, by the way. I can’t imagine how the actual painting will look like if you’re already setting the bar this high.”

She’s never been good at compliments so Wheein just busies herself with the camera strap on her neck.

“I think I’m finished. You can, uh, look at them. Make sure I didn’t take anything creepy or something.”

Poster Girl looks amused like she can’t imagine Wheein taking inappropriate pictures of her on purpose. She takes the camera gingerly, carefully flipping through different photos.

Wheein hangs at the side, taking her backpack from the ground, wonders if Hyejin’s done smooching with Kei so she can gush all about the woman in front of her.

“You have a good eye.” Again with the compliments.

“Thanks.” The camera is warm, Wheein opting to just put it in her bag at the lobby later.

A piece of paper slides towards her. It has a number written on it.

_Holy shit._

“Let me know when it’s finished?”

All Wheein can do is nod.

**::**

Hyejin agrees to lunch.

“I don’t know her name.” Is the first thing out of Wheein’s mouth, looking pained and with a wonderful blush on her cheeks.

“Okay,” Hyejin drawls, slowly sitting down as to not alert her best friend with sudden movements. “, want to call her Library Girl, then?”

“Poster Girl.”

Hyejin looks confused, attention in half as she thanks the waiter. “What?”

Again, pained Wheein face is back. “I call her Poster Girl in my head cause I didn’t even get her fucking name.”

Being the good best friend that she is, Hyejin lets the artist stew in her self-pity, taking the responsibility of ordering food for them. She jumps in her seat when Wheein looks at her suddenly with wide eyes.

“Oh my god.”

“What?” She asks then Wheein wiggles in her seat, reaching towards the back pocket of her jeans and places a piece of paper with a number written in very pretty handwriting. Hyejin whistles lowly. “Good job, buddy.”

“No, not that,” Wheein traces the numbers, a small smile on her face that Hyejin _definitely_ didn’t miss. Maybe an inside joke?

Hyejin clears her throat. “Should I leave you and the paper alone?”

Their food arrives, Wheein glaring at her best friend over the steaming food and Hyejin just sticks her tongue out. When everything’s settled, she starts the story.

“Mm,” Hyejin hums around a mouthful, not bothering to chew and swallow as she continues speaking. “, then? You looked like you had a eureka moment earlier.”

Wheein puts down her utensils, softly tracing the edges of the paper resting at the top of her phone. “This might be crazy but hear me out.” A beat, then she continues. “She was writing on her journal before, probably where this piece of paper was from, but get this: she hasn’t reached for her journal the whole time we talked.”

Hyejin looks confused, not following, even putting down her own chopsticks in hopes that it helps digest that bit of information and then— 

_“Oh!”_

“I know right!”

“She wrote her number for you even before she got wooed with your artist charm!”

Wheein flushes, hoodie swallowing her like she can’t believe what happened either.

But in the end, she says: “Yeah. She did.”

Being the good best friend that she is, Hyejin lets Wheein stew in her bubble. After a few minutes, though, she pops it with: “You still don’t know her name, though.”

Wheein groans.

**::**

It’s all Wheein did as soon as she went home.

In an 18 x 24, she tried her best to capture Poster Girl. It was a mix of a couple of pictures.

Eyes from the one where she’s coyly looking at the camera; the one that looks closest to when she was just approaching the table and Wheein dropped her pencil. Body position where she’s just reaching over to put down a highlighter, the pastel green a surprisingly soft contrast against the light complexion of her hand and the black of her sleeves. Lighting when the laptop’s brightness is turned down, making her look soft and the curve of her smile mysterious yet welcoming along with her eyes.

She blurs the background, swirls of colors that emphasize the sharp colors of her black hoodie, the way the shadow dips and softens around the bridge of her nose, the natural pink of her lips that looks shiny with the promise of lip gloss.

It creates the effect of tunnel vision that Wheein felt during that moment; like everything else blurs and all she can see is the other woman.

She may have skipped a few meals, maybe dipped her brush against a mug of coffee in the early hours of the morning but it was worth it.

The paint’s still drying by the time she hands it over to her professor, relishing in the soft gasp and biting her lip as she tells him that it’s still drying.

“The _first impression_ ,” he approves, tracing over the placard Wheein prepared with her name, canvas size, and the painting’s name. His smile morphs into a smirk. “, what a first impression indeed.”

Wheein lets him hang her piece at the center, backing up to a corner until she’s all alone.

Her phone’s been burning against the palm of her hand, the screen still on a new message window, the unsent message of her painting’s photo burning against her retina.

Breathe in, breathe out.

**_Unknown Number [3:24 PM]_ **

**_[Unknown Number has sent a photo]_ **

_hi, i’m jung wheein_

_and i’d really like to take you out sometime_

**_Poster GIrl [3:26 PM]_ **

_:)_

_Nice to meet you, I’m Bae Joohyun._

_I’d like that._

**::**

“Details!”

_“Oh my god!”_

Yongsun smiles sheepishly, clearly the one who shouted. Wheein has a hand on her heart, checking to see if it hasn’t burst out yet from how it’s been beating hard earlier during their first date and now to her friend’s surprise.

Hyejin and Kei are sprawled over the loveseat, Yongsun leaning against the breakfast island, another woman who Wheein probably seen around the art building— _Seulgi!_ — is looking rather comfortable on her couch, then Byulyi and her girlfriend, the gargantuan Park Sooyoung are leaning against the back of it.

The only person she can blame is Hyejin. She’s the only one who has a spare key for Wheein’s apartment.

Her phone chimes at the same time Sooyoung wriggles from Byulyi’s arm around her waist.

“Seungwan-unnie just texted me. Says Joohyun-unnie just got home.” She’s got a smirk on her face, daring Wheein to open the message and _yup_ , it’s a message from Joohyun saying that she got home alright.

“Details,” Yongsun repeated, softer this time, reaching inside Wheein’s fridge to pull out her half-drunk bottle of wine from her mom.

“Why?” Wheein whines, yet heart racing again at the thought of Joohyun.

“Because this is the first time someone I knew had an actual meet-cute for a love story,” says Hyejin, looking positively delighted.

Sooyoung snorts. “I can’t believe you both got together.” She squints, making a minuscule gesture with her forefinger and thumb. “You’re both, like, super tiny.”

Wheein flips her off. “Do you want the story or not?”

Everyone shuts up.

She doesn’t tell the whole thing.

Some, she leaves just for the two of them. A tangle of inside jokes and soft memories.

**::**

**_Wheeinie [10:17 PM]_ **

_i’m guessing ur getting grilled too?_

**_Poster Girl [10:18 PM]_ **

_Yes._

_Yerim keeps asking for “sordid details”._

_As if there’s anything to spill._

Wheein freezes, blinking down at her phone, peeking towards the living room and making sure no one’s over her shoulder to see what she’ll send next.

**_Wheenie [10: 20 PM]_ **

_i was keeping it first date appropriate_

_or should i not have?_

Was it too forward? Too much? She taps her feet against the tiles, nails drumming against the granite countertop of her kitchen.

**_Poster Girl [10:21 PM]_ **

_I was keeping it first date appropriate, too._

Well, then.

**_Wheeinie [10:23 PM]_ **

_bfast date tmrw?_

**_Poster Girl [10:25 PM]_ **

_:)_

_Come over for breakfast._

_I’ll cook for you._

_And keep that confidence, you might get lucky._

“Oh my god,” Wheein lets out a breath, smile eating most of her face.

“You sounded like you just orgasmed, what the fuck?” Byulyi’s looking at her weirdly, exaggeratingly peeking below Wheein as she turns the corner. “Just making sure you haven’t snuck Joohyun under there.”

“Fuck off.”

Byulyi just smirks. “It was a dirty text, wasn’t it?”

_“Fuck off,”_ is what she says but Wheein’s still smiling so hard. She waves everyone goodnight, not minding the protests. She needs to sleep. “I’ve got a date tomorrow.”

**::**

“It was _not_ a meet-cute.”

Hyejin scoffs, pointing an offending french fry near Wheein’s nose. “Except it totally is.”

Just as Wheein’s about to whine for what seems like the hundredth time tonight, a hand rests against her thigh, squeezing lightly. She turns her head just enough to see an amused smile, the hand moving on to drawing patterns on the denim.

Wheein melts against the sticky vinyl seat, a blush overpowering her pout when a kiss is pressed against her cheek.

“It was _not_ a meet-cute,” she whispers this time, the woman beside her just shaking her head.

“Sure, whatever you say.” Joohyun smiles, conspiratorially leaning over the table to stage-whisper to Hyejin. “Except it totally was.”

**::**

**end.**

**::**

depression is a bitch and it can suck my dick.

sorry for being MIA, sad boy feels have been an all-time high lately

i’m back tho yay :D

again, many thanks to **stellairemxm** for commissioning this sweet fic

all mistakes are mine

follow me on [TWITTER](https://twitter.com/rexwrites) coz i say im gonna post like 2 hrs in advance lmao

thank you and have a good one!

**Author's Note:**

> **follow the link/s on my[ twitter ](https://twitter.com/rexwrites/status/1341058168483315712?s=20)for updates and if you want to be my friend! :D **


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